Where
to begin? Where to begin? How about with a quote?
“Perception
is created and twisted so quickly.”-Louis C.K.
Now, the
last time I was in LA, which was one year ago this month, I feared for my life.
While trying to find the theater for the Dark
Shadows premiere, my GPS led me in the opposite direction to a liquor store
in a bad part of town. It was during this trek that my friend was verbally
assaulted by a homeless man in front of the Church of Scientology. Afterwards,
we walked the Hollywood Walk of Fame and were bombarded by persistent people trying
to get us to take a tour of celebrity homes. At the time, in the back of my
mind, I had a hunch that they were probably just going to drive us out into the
desert and rob us. Tack on the horrific traffic and the fact that we almost got
into several accidents during the cab ride and factor in the high cost of,
well, everything, and you can imagine what I was going through. And while the
trip did end well with the Dark Shadows screening
(with the exception of the film itself), my perception of Los Angeles consisted
of it being the culmination of all things corrupt, diseased, and disturbed. It
was where evil incarnate resided due to the warm weather How on earth could anyone
survive out here? More importantly, how was I going to survive? In order to
break into the industry, I would have to move out HERE? Me? Mister 5’8” 142lb
Ethnically Ambiguous Born and Raised Midwestern Small Town Boy?
For the
past year, I’ve endured a great deal of self-doubt. I must say, however, that
after my most recent visit to LA to finish up the final part of this internship
(which is only the first step of this journey) my perceptions of LA have been
greatly altered. Not only is it a place I envision myself embarking on a
career, but I can see it as a place of eventually raising a family.
It’s
funny. Even after all this exposition, I’m still at a loss for words. I don’t
know where to begin. I guess I’ll be direct and to the point. For the entire
duration of my visit, I shadowed Tim Sullivan while playing an active part in
several key events. I experienced firsthand what a day in the life is like for
a director working within the Hollywood system and more importantly, I
influenced it.
After
arriving in LA with a serious case of jetlag, I spent two hours recuperating.
That night I explored Venice Beach where over sixty years ago, Orson Welles
filmed Touch of Evil with Charleton
Heston and Janet Leigh. Venice is actually a really nice part of California
because there’s…I just realized how easy it is to get lost in reminiscing about
the locale. If I don’t stop myself now, the next twelve paragraphs will
probably be devoted to the nice weather and friendly locals. I’ll try to avoid
this.
The highlights
of my trip included sitting in on a recording session with Patrick Copeland. He
was Tim’s composer on I Was a Teenage
Werebear. I was fortunate enough to witness firsthand Tim breaking the news
to him that the film has been picked up in the UK to be adapted into a stage
musical along the lines of The Rocky
Horror Picture Show. Andrew Harcourt has picked it up and it's set to premiere at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Because the film was only a 30 minute short and
featured five songs, the two of them brainstormed ideas for an additional 10
songs.
In
addition to this session, the entire team got together for a little powwow. I
finally met in person the people I’ve been working with and the lead actor. They’re
all incredibly nice. There are no egos. It was at this time, I was introduced
to Matthew Vinaja, a film student at Cal State LA and cameraman for Disney-ABC
television group as well as the Jimmy Kimmel show. We really hit it off and I
learned that he’s looking for a roommate in September which is when I plan on
moving out there. Tim also told us about a few places that have two bedrooms
and charge roughly $800 a month.
It was
during this session that Matthew and I filmed a couple of promotional publicity
spots. Oddly enough, we both have the same camera which worked out perfectly.
Another
highlight was a screening of John Carpenter’s Escape from New York which featured a Q and A with Kurt Russell.
The event was sold out but Tim pulled some strings (Tim had the premiere for
one of his films at the Egyptian and is friends with the theater owners) and
got us tickets. We were there mainly to scope things out and get in contact
with Kurt’s manager. Kurt is Tim’s top contender to play an aging Jim Morrison
in The Poet in Exile and I agree, I
think he would be an ideal choice. He was in fine form that night and sharp as
ever. Sadly, I heard that Burt Reynolds is in terrible health is most likely
being dropped from Adam Rifkin’s upcoming film.
I also had
the privilege of attending Iron Man 3 in
3D IMAX with Adam Rifkin and Peter Schink. I already mentioned Adam in a
previous blog and it was nice meeting him in person. He actually reminds me of
me, which might explain why so many people find for the 2010 film Legion. At Tim’s behest, I showed both
Adam and Pete the trailer for my Batman film on my phone. They were both
immensely impressed and want to see the film. This just raised the stakes on my
film. Aside from this, I made two very important contacts.
In
addition to widening my book of contacts, I met (albeit briefly) Ryan Schifrin.
Ryan is also a director but his father, Lalo, is probably more renowned. Lalo
is a music composer who created the theme song to Mission Impossible and The
Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Finally,
I had a meeting with Tim and Matt. We set our agenda. In June, we’ll be filming
a documentary, in September we’ll be filming the pilot to the show, and in
early 2014, I’ll be working on The Poet
in Exile. Also, starting in June, I’ll start getting paid (roughly $500 a
month). In addition to these projects, Matt and I have been promoted to
producers for the upcoming film Shockbuster.
I can’t saying anything about it at the moment but it might lead to my
directorial debut to a mass market via short films.
That’s
the gist of my trip. I honestly could have gone on for ten more pages but I
felt that this final blog should be short and sweet. I’ve really gained a lot
of insight into the film industry this semester and there are big things to
come.
Cynthia
Adams actually suggested last semester that I continue to blog and I would love
to do just that, maybe start a website and publish my past blogs from directing
my 10-minute and one-act to the journal I kept during Modern Comp.
Well,
that’s all folks. I feel I should end with a quote and this one from Eleanor
Roosevelt feels right.
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to
the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer
experience.”
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